Evernight Teen, my beloved publisher, starts all their YA out on Kindle/Nook. But then we go to paper, and for me, that's the REAL publication date. I get to have something to hold in my hand, something I can sign to someone. It makes me feel like a true author in a way that the glowing ebooks never do, even though I read plenty of ebooks myself.
So I will not beat around the proverbial bush: THE AFTER TIMES IS OUT IN PAPER!!!! And the reason the previous words are IN RED is because there's the link where you can finally GET A COPY!
Obviously, I'm joyful about this. Initial reviews are good. I could use a few more if you're somebody who does such things--part of being an indie author is being NOT TOO PROUD TO BEG. But THE AFTER TIMES really is worthy of the BIZARRE stamp on all the Bean Books--a big, fat time traveling plot, a few really silly minor characters, some truly scary stuff, some sad stuff, and a bang-up happy ending. I had a blast writing it.
I'm also honored to be sharing a release season with one of my main inspirers, Robyn Hitchcock, who gets a few shout-outs in this final Bean Book. His Shufflemania (GREAT record, by the way; I snagged a CD) will be out on the 21st of October, and he's doing the same thing--some pre-release copies out before the formal DROP. I get it. You build buzz. (You drive the author/artist a little batty, but there it is.)
So here's a little story from the TRUE LIFE of a paperback writer. I woke up and got my email before I got out of bed, which I often do. The joyous note from the publisher was therein, and to celebrate, I decided to make my husband and me French toast out of the leftover ciabatta bread I had from the previous night's shakshukah. And I learned something interesting as I cooked--that preconceived notions are silly. While we were in Maine this summer, I'd bought something called vanilla flavoring in a local grocery. I intended to do some baking and needed vanilla extract, really, which I had always thought was vastly superior--and it often/usually is. But here was this charming local brand of the lesser (read fake) stuff in a bottle that looked like a cowboy's bourbon stash or something: all frilly and Victorian. So I bought it. It was not only good, it was outstanding in everything I baked while we were away.
I figured it was terroir; you know--stuff tastes better when you're on vacay? But this morning, I dumped some in the French toast. Voila: the best French toast I'd ever made. My husband ate three huge pieces. So I googled the vanilla "flavoring." Turns out it has been a passion project of one family in Maine for literally generations.
Somehow, it all fits together. Maybe if you really care about what you're doing, it doesn't matter if you're a little tiny vanilla company in Portland, Maine--or a little-known but smart 'n' good writer of YA that gets read by Old Adults, too. Maybe you will sell some bottles or copies. (Robyn Hitchcock already has a rep as a musician's musician and used to get Robyn Hitchcock is God articles written about him in the Village Voice, so I'm leaving him out of this equation. But I hope he sells lots and lots of copies, too.)
Anyway. Here's to passion projects. Here's to doing it because you have to. Here's to THE AFTER TIMES being out in paper!!
And by the way--follow my blog tour!! There's a fifty buck prize at the end! I'll give you the heads-up every Monday on my Facebook page.